Taking into consideration the recent Google Panda and Penguin Algorithm changes and refreshed “algo-metamorphosis”, it may be the most prudent choice to invest big into Search Engine Social Media Optimization!

As you already know, Google has taken the liberty to take down Google Places and prioritizing Places listings in the tune of focusing more on what people are actually searching for based upon their Social Media Platform data. Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter, and other social media streams seem to be a more impeccable and hi-fidelity source of information from USERS that gives real, raw data, in the now….sans the physical and digital manipulation of “keywords and search terms” by SEO companies all through-out the world, of course!

It was indeed, just a matter of time before Google, the world’s preferred and most popular search engine, made such a huge “paradigm shift” to focus more on what people are saying, doing, liking, and posting about on their social media profiles.

Another amazing and truly REAL source of raw data, without manipulation, is “CHECKING-IN” to places within any given city, anywhere in the world. People like to shop, eat, go out for entertainment, play sports, and learn at educational establishments, that is a given. However, in the last couple of years, people, You and I, have been “checking-in” to these schools, places of commerce, and other city locations; we have been posting this data on Facebook, tweeting about it on Twitter, we have been “Checking-in” on Google+ ! This, in turn, lead to the realization that each account is attached to a real person, that person has opinions and real truthful feelings about their experiences at such places. This is the raw data that Google has been searching for from us.

So, in turn, is this the birth of something better, something untouched by SEO digital manipulation? Are we in the new age of Search Engine Social Media Optimization? Perhaps we are!

To conclude, please don’t take my word for it! Instead, read the recent Google Blog from Senior Engineering Director, Yossi Matias where he writes: “…Given that webmasters now use Social Reports in Google Analytics to get a wider view of social activity (including +1’s), we’ll be discontinuing the stand-alone +1 Reports on November 14. Measuring social media remains a priority for Google Analytics……” and after you’re done reading this, form you own conclusion and let me know what you think.